I don't even see what the issue is here. He started the company, built it up to be a large, successful firm, and is the main reason why they now have so many long-term, institutional clients. He's supposed to just give this away to the workers? He's well within his rights to do basically whatever he wants! Most big hedge funds actually close up shop and become family offices to the founder when the founder decides to slow down (e.g, Stan Druckenmiller, Soros, Icahn, etc.), which is way worse for employees. He could do that, or he could sell the firm, or take it public, or anything else that his voting shares legally allow him to do.

Selling the firm to the top employees, and offering them generous "seller financing" terms to do so over 10 years, actually seems like a good deal for them, and has the added benefit of clearly determining who actually believes in the company and its prospects over the long term. These are not regular "rank and file" employees, anyway-- the average net worth of these people is probably at least $30mm.

If I allow myself to be cynical, what this really sounds like to me was an attempt to use his regrettable comments (about China acting like a "strict parent" towards dissenters) as a bludgeon to extort him into giving away an extremely valuable asset to his top executives--who were basically betraying him by trying to force him out in the first place. If I were in his place, I would terminate all of those executives and promote younger, more loyal workers to replace them, and then sell the company to them after they prove themselves for a few years.